Did anyone ever make a green pc?

tdh

I will be getting a pc over the coming months and I would like to experience building one myself. I have been reading over the forum lately but I havent come across too much info on making something really efficient.
I dont play computer games and dont really require that much processing - a little graphics design for a website im doing but nothing really of note.

Does builing a very energy efficient defeat the purpose of making one or would it be a good idea?
I know alot of power supplies have the potential to reach high wattage if needed but drop down to a lower consumption when not busy?
I am pretty new to this so I could be mistaken:rolleyes:

thanks:)

Nothingbetter2d

this is as green as they get

Serephucus

I'd look for a quality PSU most of all. Pair this with a good processor (any of Intel's new ones will do, they're very efficient). Any old RAM will be fine, not much you can do there. I'd add a small SSD for your OS, and to give you some speed. Add a green hard drive for storage, and that should give you a very efficient system overall.

If you're going to be doing it any time soon (week or so), post up what your budget it, what you're looking for, etc.

07734

not exactly what you are asking, but i remember seeing a guy on dragon's den pitching a range of green pcs, and getting slammed for the idea. dunno if he carried on or not.

Monotype

PSUs consume what they need. A PSU that's rated at a very high wattage usually won't be as efficient at lower levels so if energy efficiency is your goal, then buy one appropriate to your needs.
There's also rating on PSUs which guarantee certain levels of efficiency. The price climbs up when going up the efficiency levels and it can be harder to find high efficiency units at lower wattage levels (because they usually want to keep cost down for the low wattage PSUs). Although not widespread, you can still get somewhat affordable PSUs, like the gold rated 450W superflower golden green at hardwareversand for about €62. Platinum rating is still quite new and price is very high and really more than what you'd save in electricity unless your PC is on all day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_plus

deconduo

Item|Price
Total build cost: €354.69 + €30 shipping
Intel Core i3-2120T Box, LGA1155|€116.60
ASRock H61M-ITX, Sockel 1155, ITX|€62.14
8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€33.65
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€90.29
Thermaltake Element Q, mini-ITX, 200W-Netzteil|€52.01


This would be a nice green PC, with a power consumption of at most 50W on full load.

Fluffy88

Greenest PC ever!!

Item|Price
Total build cost: €1,168.43 + €30 shipping
Cooler Master 690 II Advanced USB 3.0 - NVIDIA Edition, ohne Netzteil|€109.09
Antec EarthWatts EA-380D Green|€41.19
Gigabyte G1.Sniper2, Intel Z68, ATX|€403.99
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€191.82
Alpenföhn Matterhorn Shamrock Edition|€69.99
OCZ Agility 3 60GB 6,4cm (2,5") SATA3|€73.19
8GB-Kit A-DATA XPG G v2 Series PC1600 CL9 2x4GB|€44.04
Western Digital Caviar GreenPower 500GB SATA II, Western Digital5000AADS|€79.00
Club 3D GeForce GTX 560 Green Edition, 1GB GDDR5|€156.12



Seriously though, don't buy this, just look at how green it is

syklops

Define 'green'.

A PSU shipped from Korea, via plane, ship and van, to land at your doostop, that consumes less power than the PSU you could have bought in currys for less money, is in the grand scheme of things, hust as energy inefficient as the currys one. Obviously the one you buy in Currys might have come from Korea also, but perhaps via a cheaper(energy wise) vector.

tdh

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

this is as green as they get

hmm Im not sure software has progressed to a level that would justify such a peice of hardware, like I said I only want it for basic tasks:p

Ah yes monotype that is what I heard before about the PSU consumption and was trying recall it in my post.
Ahh so basically its mainly down to the processor and psu? I would rather spend extra to get a reliable and efficient machine while im at it.

I wont be buying one until the summer and I am happy to spend whatever it takes - I just wanted to know if it was possible/worthwhile I guess.
I did buy a shuttle xs3gt about a year and a half ago that is used as a htpc. Its very low power and with an ssd it doesnt have a moving part or make a sound. I was thinking about replacing that with a raspberry pi (as htpc) and using that as pc afterwards either.

Trevor451

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

Skerries

The Recompute computer has a case made from corrugated cardboard, glued together with non-toxic adhesive. Amazingly, it’s more heat resistant than plastic. Can I get an Xbox 360 made from cardboard?

jaykhunter

Maybe buying a netbook for email/webstuff might be more energy efficient than a high powered PC in a cardboard box. Seems to me more like a funky fashion statement than actually being green lol

prospect

No affiliation etc. etc.:

The greenest PC surely must be a refurbished one.
http://www.greenit.ie/

Tea_Bag

a non gaming PC can be very very efficient. my server PC, which is left on 24/7 running Minecraft and Ventrillo servers etc and streaming music/movies/data around the house draws ~45W under full load, and at idle ~10W. compare that to a lightbulb @ 60W and you're getting a lot of computer for absolutely nothing.